Adamantios Korais - Towards an Intellectual Biography: His medical work

The bibliography on Korais has paid almost no attention to his written work on medicine. I propose to focus on this omission. The initial question of the proposed research is rather simple: Was Korais a doctor? The bibliography hitherto answers “rather no” . The research project that I propose focuses on the study of Korais’ theses on medicine, which lie outside the “canon” . Pyretologiae Synopsis is the largest in length thesis of 1786. This work, to which Korais’ colleagues and teachers often refer, constitutes an attempt of mapping an “economia animalis” based on “fever” , in a period in which the study of passions and desires comes to the forefront, culminating, of course, in Sade. Korais’ second thesis, Medicus Hippocraticus, will be examined in the framework of the reform program of Société Royale de Médecine, which is closely connected with the University of Montpellier. There is always the possibility of certain surprises in the files of Korais’ teachers in Montpellier.